[proposal+patch] Addition of ?() as shorthand for isset()

Hi! I've always thought isset() was quite ugly. For something I use quite frequently for checking the existence of array keys, I feel it is too many keystrokes, and is ugly. So, I decided I would create a shorthand for isset(). One option suggested was a new operator, 'expr ??', which I don't like the idea of very much. I would also have liked 'expr ?', but that would conflict with the ternary operator, 'expr ? expr : expr'. Then, I had the idea of '? expr', but that also caused a conflict. So I settled on '? ( expr )', which is used like this: if (?($_POST['credit_card_no'])) {

      // ...

} else if (!?($_POST['use_paypal']) && ?($_POST['bank_acc_no'])) {

      // ...

} And since it doesn't break the ternary operator, like this: $number = ?($x)? intval($x) : 0; I quite like how it combines with !, so !?() tests for non-existence, and ?() tests for existence. It's quite trivial, but it would save me (and probably many others) time, and I think it would add some extra character to PHP, with its quirky syntax. :) Patch attached. Thoughts welcome. -- Andrew Faulds http://ajf.me/

Attachment: [text/x-patch] shorthand_isset.patch